An ink jet recording method is a method for printing an intended image by projecting ink droplets from the minuscule orifices of a recording head so that the ink droplets land on recording medium. In the field of color printing, a color printer which uses four inks different in color, that is, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, to print a color image has been the mainstream color printer. In recent years, however, for the improvement of image quality and color reproducibility, inks other than the abovementioned primary four color inks have come to be used in addition to the four color inks. For example, in the field of a printer for printing high quality images such as photographic images, for the purpose of improving a printer in terms of gradation to reproduce subtle variations in natural colors, such cyan and magenta inks that are lower in the density of coloring material, such as dye, than the aforementioned primary cyan and magenta inks have come to be used in addition to the primary ones. Further, in some cases, for the purpose of widening the range of colors reproducible with a color printer to further improve a printer in terms of color reproducibility, inks different in color from the abovementioned four primary color inks are used in addition to the primary ones.
As the number of the inks used for image formation increases as described above, the number of ink containers therefor increases, making it thereby difficult to select a correct ink container from among a large number of ink containers different in the properties of the ink therein, for the following reason. That is, not only are there too many inks different in color and other properties, but also, ink names and/or color names under which ink containers are called are too close to each other. For example, the cyan and magenta inks employed specifically for photographic printing in addition to the primary cyan and magenta inks may be called PhotoCyan and PhotoMagenta to imply their photographic usage, or LightCyan and LightMagenta to imply their lower coloring material densities. In other words, the name containing the color name for the name of the primary ink, that is, cyan or magenta, is frequently used for the secondary (additional) ink. Moreover, the color of the color strip printed on an identification label for an ink container for a secondary color ink is often very close to that for an ink container for the corresponding primary color ink.
As for a situation in which a specific ink container must be indicated from among multiple ink containers, there is a case, for example, in which one (or more) of the ink containers in an image forming apparatus has been depleted of the ink, and therefore, this ink container must be indicated so that it can be replaced. In such a case, that is, when the amount of the ink in an ink container falls below a predetermined value below which recording cannot be satisfactorily made, usually, it is detected by a printer, with the use of some sort of method (for example, method disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 8-043174), that the ink in the ink container has been depleted, and the printer informs a user of the detected result, by way of a host computer or the like. Then, the user is to find the identity of the ink container to be replaced, and to replace it with an identical replacement ink container. Usually, the user finds the identity of the ink container to be replaced, based on the letters, or the strip of color, for example, on the label on the ink container to be replaced.
However, there are a large number of ink container types, and also, it is rather difficult to differentiate between two ink containers which are similar in the identification letters, or the color of the identification strip, on the ink container label, as described above, making therefore the task of identifying an ink container somewhat annoying to a user, or making longer the time it takes for a user to identify an ink container. Further, to a user with reduced eyesight, such as an older user, or a user unfamiliar with the printer operation, it is very difficult to find a correct ink container from among a large number of ink containers which are similar in the letters, or the color of the identification strip, of an ink container label.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2000-015837 discloses an idea as one of the solutions to the abovementioned problem. According to this idea, the main assembly of a printer is provided with multiple light emitting members, for example, LEDs, which correspond one for one to the multiple ink containers employed by the printer, so that the light emitting member(s) corresponding to the ink container(s) to be replaced, that is, the ink container(s) which is critically low in the amount of the ink therein, can be lit to inform a user of the ink container(s) to be replaced.
This structural arrangement is virtually the same as the above described method of informing a user of an ink container to be replaced, through a host computer. That is, it simply informs a user of the color of the ink in the ink container having run out of ink. In other words, in the case of this structural arrangement, there is a certain amount of distance between each light emitting member and the corresponding ink container. Therefore, it can indicate which ink container is to be replaced, only in terms of the color of the ink therein; it cannot directly indicate the ink container to be replaced. Therefore, it cannot solve the above described problem. Moreover, even if a user memorizes the relationship between each light emitting member and the corresponding ink container, in terms of position and identity, it is rather difficult for the user to retain the memory, because the ink container replacement occurs at relatively long intervals, for example, once in several months.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2002-301829 discloses an idea of providing a printer with multiple lamps for warning a user of the amount of ink in the corresponding ink containers. These lamps are disposed, one for one, on the ink containers themselves, or on the ink container locking levers of the main assembly of the printer located near the ink container placement spaces. According to this application, a user is enabled to directly recognize the ink container(s) responsible for turning on the ink remainder warning lamp(s) on the main assembly side of the printer, because the warming lamp(s) is on, or near, the ink container(s) responsible for turning on the warming lamp(s). Therefore, it is easier for a user to know that a specific ink container is short of ink.
However, the structural arrangement which Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2002-301829 discloses, that is, a structural arrangement which places the warning lamps On the ink container locking levers, each of which will be in the adjacencies of the corresponding ink container when the ink container is mounted, can be applicable to only apparatuses in which each of the locking levers or the like will be in the adjacencies of the corresponding ink container placement space. In other words, this structural arrangement cannot be applied to a wide range of apparatuses. Obviously, it is possible to modify this structural arrangement to make it widely applicable. For example, it is possible to place the warning lamps on the structural components of the carriage on which the ink containers are mounted. This modification, however, creates a problem. That is, the variety in carriage specification and carriage design makes it difficult to place all the warning lamps close enough to the corresponding ink containers, creating situations in which when a given lamp is lit, the ink container corresponding to the lit lamp cannot be directly recognized. In addition, modifying carriage design to achieve the above described object reduces latitude in carriage design.